Kerr sisters excited to be playing for White Ferns together
THERE is no feeling quite like representing your country at a World Cup.
For New Zealand sisters Jess and Amelia Kerr, this year’s Women’s Twenty20 World Cup will be extra special.
In a release from the ICC, the sisters said they were thrilled to be playing together.
The White Ferns have their newest sibling pair on board.
Jess (22) is in line to make her global tournament debut, two years after 19yearold Amelia shot to fame at the 2018 edition in the West Indies.
New Zealand opens its tournament with a match against Sri Lanka in Perth tonight, starting at midnight.
The tournament started last night when Australia took on India in Sydney.
Cricket has always been the Kerr family business — parents Robbie and Jo both played for Wellington before their daughters.
Despite being the elder, Jess is the latest success having earned her national callup last month after taking 20 wickets in the domestic Super Smash for the Blaze.
Amelia, on the other hand, has been a White Fern since 2016, forging a reputation as a worldclass legspinning allrounder, but regardless of who made the headlines first, the sisters cannot wait to don the national jersey for the first time together in Australia.
‘‘I’m her older sister but in cricket it feels like it’s the other way around because of the experience Amelia has,’’ Jess said.
‘‘We don’t really talk about cricket that much but I know she’s always here to help me.
‘‘It’s really special to get the callup and play alongside Amelia and some of the very best players in the world.’’
Amelia added: “It’s so cool having Jess here. She’s such an awesome older sister.
“Growing up, she always looked after me and was super supportive so now with her coming into the side as a new player, I can return the favour in helping her out whenever she needs.
“We’ve played a lot of cricket together over the years at school and for Wellington but to represent our country together is extremely special.”
Different bowling styles mean the two sisters are not up against each other for a spot in a strong New Zealand side looking for their first taste of Women’s Twenty20 World Cup glory.
The White Ferns have underperformed in the six editions thus far.
They lost in the final in 2009 and and 2010 and failed to get out of the group stage last time in the West Indies.
She may still be in her teenage years but the pain of underdelivering on the world stage is a feeling Amelia, who made her debut in 2018, knows all too well – and she is determined not to experience it again.
“Knowing what that pain feels like makes us very determined to succeed here in Australia,” she added.
“We’re definitely hungry. We’ve been working hard all year round and we want this bad.
“We can only control what’s happening in the moment and the outcome will be what it will be.
‘‘We want to make our country proud with how we carry ourselves both on and off the field.”
THE Otago Volts reprise their Plunket Shield campaign today.
They face Auckland at the Eden Park Outer Oval, as the team moves back to fourday cricket after three months playing with the white ball.
It has been a good three months for Otago too.
The twenty20 and oneday competitions produced quality cricket and strong results.
Both were ended in playoff matches against Auckland.
Otago coach Rob Walter is expecting this one to be the toughest of all its matches against the side.
As well as Auckland being a quality side, he admits the longer format is still a work in progress for Otago.
‘‘I don’t have any issue saying the shorter formats are definitely our strength at the moment,’’ he said.
‘‘Part of our growth as a team is our fourday cricket. We’ve identified that’s something we want to do.
‘‘Unfortunately, in those first three games we had 51⁄2 days out of 12 rained out.
‘‘So we were short on fourday cricket there. Again, our focus is just on getting better at this stage.’’
‘‘We know the Auckland side are a very strong outfit who compete for trophies.
‘‘They’ll be putting us under pressure and all I want to see from our guys is that they improve their game and show the kind of character required to play fourday cricket.’’
The side is a settled one, boasting the majority of the lineup that was in good form through the limitedovers campaigns.
Neil Broom will bring up 100 matches for Otago, having been forced to wait an extra few months.
He had been set to reach the milestone before Christmas, but a rainedout match followed by injury left him stranded on 99.
Spinner Mark Craig is missing with an ongoing back injury, while opener Hamish Rutherford will also miss the game after picking up a concussion last weekend.
Auckland has plenty of quality in its lineup.
Lockie Ferguson brings pace with the ball, while Martin Guptill, Glenn Phillips and Jeet Raval form the basis of a strong batting lineup.
Otago took most of the week off to mentally reset.
Walter feels being able to switch between formats is not so much the challenge.
It is more the amount of mental energy expended in the oneday playoff matches that may hinder the side.